T-Bear’s Corner – A View from the Booth

July 26th...The Event of the Summer "Beat the Heat" returned to Countyline Dragway....and a NEW TRACK RECORD WAS SET AGAIN!!!

Countyline Dragway teamed up once again with the Medley Police Department, and added a new sponsor, 93 Rock to bring back the enourmously popular "Beat the Heat" racing event at Countyline Dragway. On July 26th, racers from all over South Florida showed up and took it to the Medley Police, beating them 4 times over the course of the evening. The ever popular dragster rides were in full force as the excitement on the track spread into the grandstands and fans decided to get a feel for what the racers were experiencing on the track. Even the folks from 93 Rock went for a 5 second thrill.

The biggest news of the night however was the record shattering runs by the Driven2Win Navy dragster. Once again, 2 time NHRAA Pro-FWD champion Nelson Hoyos pummeled the competition and made a good night at the races great with his final run of 149.56 mph at 4.65 seconds. He may make it look easy, but that is years and years of experince behind the wheel and a fantastic pit crew that made his record breaking runs possible.

Nelson and his wife Marla own Driven2Win Drag Racing School, and we are in of getting him involved in teaching at Countyline Dragway. You will be seeing much more about this in the near future, and if you are looking to be the top pedal one day, what better way to start then get lessons from the man who has been there, done that and owns the trophys to prove it!





Mark Your Calenders...July 26th...The Event of the Summer as "Beat the Heat" returns to Countyline Dragway

Countyline Dragway has teamed up once again with the Medley Police Department, and added a new sponsor, 93 Rock to bring back the enourmously popular "Beat the Heat" racing event at Countyline Dragway. On July 26th, racers from all over South Florida will be converging on the strip, in hopes of bringing home a prize worthy of any collection, a t-shirt emblazoned with the slogan, I Beat the Heat.

BEAT THE HEAT, INC. is a national "Cops and Kids" oriented program which brings the young people together with the Police Officers who are there to help them. It gives both groups an opportunity to closely interact with each other so that each group can learn from the other things that will really make a difference for both groups in the community. The Medley chapter has already accomplished a great deal towards this goal in our community.

The theme of the drag racing program is "RACING FOR EDUCATION". Many of the problems of our society today stem from the fact that some people are lacking in education. We can only make an attempt with the adults to get them to use their heads and think before they do something. However, we CAN get the attention of the young people and they are very capable of learning. What better way than to incorporate something they already love to do...drive fast...in a venue where we can control the situation, talk to them on a personal level, offer them fair competition, and hopefully bridge the gap between youth and authority in this non-threating manner and environment.

This program goes hand in hand with Countyline Dragway's Race Track...Not Street slogan and mission. Obviously the word is getting out into the community, as several law enforcement officers visiting our facility have mentioned that street racing accidents and arrests seem to be lower since the track opened. We will not have an exact figure until traffic statistics for the 2007 & 2008 years come out next year however, are these rumours our doing or coincidence? You know what we think, and now we are getting mentioned in many circles and garnering a great deal of attention from the media. 93 Rock came to us with a great proposal and we jumped at the chance to have them involved in what will be an awesome night of racing. They will have announcements about the event in on-air-rotation starting the week prior to the race, and will have a presence at the track the night of the event. They have promised to provide some interactive activities and give away a few souvenir hats and t-shirts as well. We really are looking forward to their presence, and would like to invite all of you out that night. Get in the car and bring the whole familty. It will certainly be a night of fun for everyone. July 26th...be there, and get ready to race.

 

 

Saturday Night…Under the Lights...
Countyline Dragway….
Miami-Dade County, Florida

This past Saturday under a balmy, breezy South Florida summer sky, a grandstand full of cheering spectators and a pit row full of drivers and crew were witness to one of the greatest nights of local drag racing ever. The track records for MPH and ET were both shattered repeatedly on this Test & Tune evening, as the drag bike driven by Little Mikey of Slater Racing and the Navy sponsored Driven2Win dragster with 2 time NHRA PRO-FWD Champion Nelson Hoyos behind the wheel, tore up the track. When the smoke of scorched rubber and the dust raised by winds approaching 150 mph from their runs had cleared, Nelson Hoyos in his Driven2Win Navy dragster had set the new track records in both categories. That is the final outcome of this story, but let’s explore how the drama unfolded.

Both Little Mikey and Nelson had prelim runs. Both fouled out (red light) on first ups. Mikey came out strong on his second run and blew away our old track MPH record of 142.60, with a 4.99ET 145.1MPH run. He was excited as he returned to the pits and his crew members and team mates were ecstatic. Then rumbling back into the staging area was this beast of a machine driven by Nelson Hoyos with NAVY boldly emblazoned upon it sides. Doing a dragster’s typically noisy, breathing fire and smoke showoff display in the burnout box, it first blew past and then reversed back to the tree and then staged up quietly. Sitting there rumbling away it looking rather benign and innocent, almost like a shiny new toy next to a Christmas tree, only the tree this beast now sat next to had a whole different meaning and purpose. When this tree’s lights began to twinkle the dragster reacted like a bull to a red cape. As the tree’s lights flicked down, each yellow brought a new level of menacing sound as the beast’s supercharger brought the rpms up until yellow… yellow…GREEN! and suddenly within a thunderous roar and a cloud of billowing smoke the Navy dragster became an instant blur and was just gooooooooooone! 4.75 seconds and 148.5 mph later we had new track records, beating our old ET of 4.93 and of course Little Mikey’s 15 minute old record of 145.1MPH.

This story is not over yet. Not only was Nelson Hoyos not satisfied with this record shattering run, but Little Mikey was out to get back in it. I do not know what magic Slater Racing worked in the pits to coax another potential record breaking run out of that super fast drag bike of theirs, but they got it ready to roll. However, before they came out for their final run, Nelson and the Navy beast were back. His next run, with a little better react time, saw both track records broken for the third time with his final run of 4.724 seconds at 149.0 MPH. About ten minutes later, Little Mikey was out there again, and ran a phenomenal 4.89 seconds at 148mph, but it was just a little too little and a little too late. We congratulate Slater Racing and Little Mikey for a valiant effort, and of course congratulate and applaud again, our new track record holder, Nelson Hoyos. Great job gentlemen, please come back and race again soon!

So, if you were anywhere else in South Florida on Saturday evening, June 28th 2008, we are very sorry you missed out on witnessing an evening that will go down in Countyline Dragway history as one of its greatest nights of racing ever. This young fledgling drag strip with as much potential as any facility in the nation showed us a glimpse of what greatness is, in its all here this second… a memory the next splendor. We believe this night foretells the future of Countyline Dragway as our track begins to step out of the shadows of its infancy and produced racing worthy of being noticed. Look for much more great racing in the months and years to come, don’t miss out on being a part of drag racing history, and always remember to - Race Track…Not Street!

Until next time, I am T-Bear – Your Webmaster

Coming soon – An in-depth look at Nelson Hoyos Driven2Win Drag Racing School, and some history on the man and the Navy Dragster that now holds our track record.